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<H1>Adding Fixtures</H1>

<H2>Fixture Manager</H2>

<P>
<B>Open the fixture manager by clicking its <IMG SRC="qrc:/fixture.png">
button on the main toolbar. Alternatively you can select <u>Fixtures</u> from
the <u>Manager</u> menu.</B>
</P>

<P>
The fixture manager is the heart of QLC+ fixture-oriented architecture. As its
name already says, you can manage (add, remove and edit) your lighting fixtures
from the fixture manager. On the left side of the manager there is a list that
contains all of the fixtures in the current workspace (currently it's empty).
On the right side you can see some common information related to the currently
selected fixture. On top of the fixture manager there is again another toolbar,
containing the following buttons (from left to right):
</P>

<HR>
<P>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/edit_add.png" align="absmiddle"> Add new fixtures<BR>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/edit_remove.png" align="absmiddle"> Remove selected fixtures<BR>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/configure.png" align="absmiddle"> Configure the selected fixture<BR>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/group.png" align="absmiddle"> Group a fixture selection<BR>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/ungroup.png" align="absmiddle"> Ungroup a fixture from a group<BR>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/fileimport.png" align="absmiddle"> Import a previously saved list of fixtures<BR>
<IMG SRC="qrc:/fileexport.png" align="absmiddle"> Export a list of fixtures<BR>
</P>
<HR>

<H2>Adding a fixture</H2>

<P>
<B>Add a fixture to the workspace by clicking the
<IMG SRC="qrc:/edit_add.png" align="absmiddle"> add button.</B>
</P>

<P>
On the left side of the dialog you can see a list of available fixture
manufacturers. Each manufacturer item is actually a folder containing a number
of fixture models produced by the manufacturer. You can find for example a
"DJScan250" under the "Futurelight" folder. As you click a fixture from the
list, you can see the <u>Channels</u> field on the right side change to
display the number of DMX channels required by the selected fixture. There's
also a list of the fixture's channels just under the <u>Channels</u> box.
</P>

<P>
You can edit the new fixture's name in the <u>Name</u> field or you can stick
to the default that the application suggests. If the fixture has different
operational modes (different sets of channels), you can select one from the
<u>Mode</u> box.  The fixture's DMX address can be set in the <u>Address</u>
field and should be the same as the actual physical fixture's DMX address.
The <u>Universe</u> field is used to assign the fixture to a physical DMX
output universe. Usually each universe has its own cable coming from the
computer.
</P>

<P>
If you wish to add multiple fixtures of the same type, you can increase the
value in the <u>Amount</u> box. If you wish to leave some gap between each
fixture's address space, you can change the value in the <u>Address gap</u>
box.
</P>

<P>
If you don't understand the DMX addressing principles, please consult your
lighting equipment manuals for more information. In short, a DMX address is
the first DMX channel of one fixture. In the case of a DJScan250 (which uses
6 channels), assigning for example 1 as its DMX address, reserves channels
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 to the fixture. The next fixture must then be assigned
to DMX address 7 to prevent channel overlapping.
</P>

<H3>Adding a generic dimmer</H3>

<P>
Dimmers are a bit special devices, since all they can usually do is just adjust
the intensities of their channels (that usually drive PAR cans and the like).
If you wish to add such a device, select the <u>Generic dimmer</u> fixture
from the list and specify the number of channels you wish the device to employ
into the <u>Channels</u> box. Note that you cannot adjust the mode for dimmers
and the channel list stays empty all the time.
</P>

<H2>Back to the fixture manager</H2>

<P>
<B>Click OK to close the dialog and add the selected fixture(s) to the
workspace.</B>
</P>

<P>
On the left side of the fixture manager you can now see the fixture(s) that you
just added. On the right side, you can see information on the currently selected
fixture. You can edit the fixture's name, address and universe by clicking the
Configure button. You can also change the fixture definition thru the
configuration dialog.
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